Pray Without Ceasing

Our vacation turned out to be sick leave. Our plans turned out to be the complete opposite of what we had intended. Instead of spending a few days sight-seeing, we spent a few days finding out more about the intensive care unit, brain surgery and prayer.  I have no regrets on the change of plans because I believe God already knew what was going to happen and He knew that faced with the choice of being at my brother’s bedside or being somewhere else, there was no choice to make. I love my brother.  

He stood at the crossroads of the Cross and surveyed the choice. He could have called 10,000 angels to His defense. He could have looked at you and I and said, not worth it. And yet, in the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed so urgently and so deeply that drops of blood beaded on His forehead.  When faced with the choice of going to the Cross or being somewhere else, there was no choice for Him to make. He loved you and He loved me. He has no regrets. He prayed in the Garden and He continues to pray in heaven for us. He never quits interceding.  He loves us.

God wants you to know today that Easter is for you. It is the greatest story ever told and it was written with you in mind. He loves you. He loved you before the foundation of the world and He continues to love you. He surveyed the Cross, took the beating, faced the humiliation, stepped into hell and faced it all for you.  God wants you to know that He loves you. (period, end of sentence) Because of this Great Love, He will be with you to guide you, protect you, redeem you, restore you, bless you and remain faithful to you forever and ever.  Every single time you have called out to Him He has been right at your side. You might not always feel His presence, but you can count on it.  He knows the pain you have experienced at the hands of another. He knows the humiliation you’ve felt when decisions were made that had nothing to do with love. He knows the sorrow you experience as prayers seemed to go unanswered.

God also wants you to know that because Easter is a day of resurrection, you too will experience resurrection. When you are at the end of your life, the resurrection will be in heaven with the Lord. But even now, while things look bleak and the grave of your hopes and dreams is all you can see, resurrection is coming! God is going to work all things out for your good. He is reviving your calling even as you are reading this. He is renewing your hopes, restoring your dreams and rearranging your circumstances so that your life will be a blessing to all who know you. Now is the time to pray more, read His Word and walk in faith. Three days Christ was in the grave and yet there was much going on we could not see. You may feel that you’ve been in the grave of sorrow, humiliation, regret and uselessness. But much is going on behind the scenes of your life. Keep praying. Keep believing. Keep looking for the stone to roll away from the Grave.

Oh beloved, never quit praying. God loves you and He is for you. It makes no difference what others are doing or who has walked away. You are in His hands and His plans for you are as sure as Easter morning. Rejoice in His truth and linger in prayer for at just the right time God will show His plans to you and you will live in the light of His Word!

I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

Romans 8:34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Psalm 116:2 Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! NLT

John 11:20 Jesus said to her, “I AM the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.

Ephesians 1:11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. NLT

Keep Those Weeds At Bay!

You can tell spring is approaching by the occasional buds popping out on warm days and the jonquils beginning to bloom. There are also the errant weeds trying to take over the yard. Funny isn’t it that weeds are the first to green up.  They encroach into every area they can. From the climbers to the bloomers, weeds love to grow. Even in the garden plots. Last year’s weed free garden becomes this year’s weed laden beds. What you did to remove, prevent and dislodge last spring’s weeds doesn’t apply to this year’s crop of nuisances.  Your flower beds may have been pristine to the onlooker, but you or your lawn service know what it took to get it that way.  It was a continual removal of anything that doesn’t belong in the landscape. 

It only takes a few days for new weeds to appear and attempt to take over.  Even in homes that are well established and have had landscaping and gardens for many years it must be continual. Watch a home where the family has gone and it sits idle. It’s not long before small trees pop up in flower beds and huge thistles push through the soil in the gardens. What looks beautiful and brings a bounty of flowers and vegetables becomes an eyesore and quits producing within a few weeks without constant care.

Our lives are like this. We come to the Lord and we get a clean slate, but without constant care, the weeds of life begin encroaching on our fresh new soil. The weeds of the past -  those habits and desires we left at the altar of our hearts when we came to the Lord - they want to return. The weeds of the present -  fresh hurts, new problems, unresolved situations -   will come in and take over quickly. The weeds of the future – fears, indecision, ignorance, angers- may lie dormant, but unless we keep them at bay they too will bound through the soils, sooner or later marring the landscape of our lives.

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life! He is the specialist in weed control and He freely gives you everything needed to keep the landscape of your life pristine and presentable! How do others seem to be so full of joy and peace, you may ask? Because they spend plenty of time working the ground of their hearts. You too, beloved, must work your fallow ground – it is imperative that you fill your mind and heart with God’s loving Words! It is the ultimate weed killer! Without God’s Word, implanted firmly into your heart – the enemy of our souls can come in and ruin things. He will try to sow discord, animosity, fear, sin and more. It is a continual, daily event that you spend time with the Lord to fill your heart and mind with His words so that the weed producer cannot fill you with untruths and half-truths! Time with God will produce much fruit – love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control and these things will root out the weeds that may try to steal God’s place in your heart!

Rejoice that God Himself wants to speak into your life! Everything you and I need is found in His Word. If you let Him, He will make your life and beautiful living example of His watchful care, His eternal love and His rich blessings!  Spend plenty of time with your Savior – let other things go, but do not neglect your time with Him! The rewards are out of this world!

Hosea 10:12 I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,  and you will harvest a crop of love.  Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come  and shower righteousness upon you.’

Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Psalm 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. KJV